house of eternal childhood
by belanna-rules210
Summary: a seemingly harmless case takes a twisted turn. rated T to be safe, just in case i decide to add some changes later.
1. Chapter 1

Shibuya Psycic Research had been on their latest case for a few days. The Kouko family had bought a new house but wanted to have it cleared from a curse known to fall upon the owners. In each family that lived in it for the last five generations, a child always vanished. If not a child, a teen. The family would move shortly after. Wakasu Kouko asked Naru and his team to investigate before he moved in with his three children.

So far they had not noticed anything particularly interesting. No temperature drops, no attacks and no strange noises picked up. Miss Hara could sense spirits but could not tell much about was gathering research on the house from outside. There was a long history of the disappearances but no reason given. There was never a body found or any witnesses. Each time, they would put the child to bed and they would be gone by the morning.

After checking the videos as a routine, Mai settled down for bed in the room she shared with Masako and Ayako. They were truly stumped. As she closed her eyes, she wondered how much longer Naru would stay.

When she opened her eyes, she could tell she was in one of her dreams. She was in a playground and saw a small girl crying on the swing. She felt drawn to the child, almost a need to help her at any cost. As she approached, the young girl looked up with watery eyes.

"What's wrong?", asked Mai with concern.

"I lost my mommy and there's no one to play with me.", the girl sobbed. "Will you play with me?"

Mai was uncertain if she should trust the spirit but figured she was usually safe when she was dreaming and the child looked harmless enough. She held her hand out in acceptance.

"Will you play with me forever?", the child asked. Her eyes were now glowing red. She had grabbed Mais hand and would not let go. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I forgot last chapter but I do not own Ghost Hunt. I do, however, wish I owned Naru.

Ayako woke up to a strange scream. She sat up in bed and turned her lamp on. As she adjusted to the light, she heard a small child crying. Confused, she looked over to see a young child in Mais bed. The little girl had sandy brown hair and huge brown eyes. She was in the same pajama top Mai had worn to bed. On the child, however it was swallowing her and the neck was hanging around her small waist. Ayako estimated the small thing to be between two or three. She was shaking and crying from fear.

Immediately she rushed over the bed and picked her up.

"Ayako?", the small child asked, "What's going on? And why are you so big?"

Looking closer at the child, she came to an unbelievable conclusion. Those eyes looked awful familiar. So did that hair. There was no denying it, this child looked identical to Mai.

"Mai?", she asked cautiously, "Is that you?"

Tanayama nodded. Ayako sat in shock a moment then realized she could not see Masako on her bed. She saw only a tiny lump in the bed. After gathering some courage, she found another young girl who looked to be about three. This girl had porcelian colored skin and dark hair. She was still asleep and Ayako merely put her blanket back on as she thought about what to do.

After a few minutes, she calmly wrapped Mai in her pajama top the best she could and picked her up. The little girl had falled back to sleep. Turning her arms into a cradle, she carried the young child down the hall to the guys room. She knocked quickly and loudly to get their attention. Lin was the first to the door and looked at Ayakos arms confused.

"What, may I ask, is THAT?", he asked.

"I think this is Mai,", explained Ayako, "and Masako is in the room in a similar state. Please get everyone into our room."

While she waited for the men to arrive, she placed both girls on Masakos bed and slipped the much too big shirt off the dark haired child. She would just have to figure out how to make some sort of clothes work later. For the moment, she just tucked both of them in. 


	3. Chapter 3

I will try to get a longer one now that I know its a hit.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. I do not even own Naru. And not Lin either, drat!

While the children slept, peacefully unaware of the chaos starting around them, the guys gathered in the room. John smiled indulgently at the porcelian skinned, dark haired baby. She really was irresistable. And the sandy haired toddler had the sweetest little curls. Monk was a bit shocked but, seeing the girls, he could not help but fall in love. Lin was emotionless and silent as always while Naru just looked smug as usual. They decided as a group that the best approach would be to wake the tiny assistant and medium, even if they did look rather adorable sleeping as they were.

Bou-San carefully slipped Mai into his arms, keeping her wrapped in the sheet to preserve her dignity. Somehow he thought she would not appreciate the men seeing her naked body, even if it was quite a bit smaller and younger. Ayako laid the darker haired tot on her lap keeping her wrapped in the much too big nightshirt. They gently ran their fingers through their hair and whispered in their little ears to wake up. No one wanted cranky toddlers, just in case. Eventually Mai yawned and stirred ever so slowly. Her big brown eyes drew everyone in as she came back to the concious world. Immediately, she began to scream.

"What are you guys doing in my room? And where am I? And Why are you bigger...", the startled child yelled until Naru finally interrupted her tirade. It was giving him a bit of a headache so late at night.

"Mai, we need you to tell us what you last remember. You can have an explanation once we figure out one.", he said in an impatient tone more suited for a teen Mai.

This did not settle the child down very well of course. She only started crying again, unsure of what was going on and feeling suddenly overwhelmed by the littlest of things. Ayako sighed and decided that this task was more suited to a girl. Really, what did Naru think scolding a small girl who was already frustrated and scared?

"Mai, you need to know first of all that you appear to be a large two year old or small three year old. Since none of us are sure what is going on, we need to know if you were having an important dream. Don't worry, you are not the only one. Masako only looks slightly older than you.", she explained patientily gesturing to the dark haired child in her arms. Upon seeing that Masako was, indeed, infantile as well she felt slightly assauged.

"Well, I was in a park. There was a little girl who looked barely old enough to start school. She was upset so I rushed over to comfort her. She told me she was lonely and wanted someone to play with her. Except, when I reached out to play, she would not let go and her eyes started glowing. She said I was going to play with her forever.", Mai explained. Upon reaching the end and reliving the fear, she immediately started crying once again.

This woke Masako who told of the same dream as Monk gently rocked and cuddled Mai to comfort the upset girl.

"It would appear we have a problem, wouldn't it then?", Naru said thoughtfully. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I think we already established that I do not own Ghost Hunt. Wish I did, but I don't.

Once the men returned to their bedroom to get some rest and figure out things in the morning, Ayako set out to make the sleeping arrangements more toddler friendly. Not wanting to pick up injured children in the morning, she made a pallet of blankets on the floor. The kids were small enough that they fit easily on the same one. Knowing how the girls did not always play nicely with each other, however, she put them each on their own end. After going through the clothes they had with them, she picked out the smallest shirts she could find and patiently rolled up the sleeves for each girl. Some string she found in the room tied them up so they would stay. There wasnt much to be done about the length obviously. After much convincing and conjoling, the children allowed her to cut the hems short and quickly sew up the sides to make them into a sort of bunting style night gown that an infant would wear. It wasn't fancy but they would do the job. She sighed as she explained that underwear would just be impossible until they could get to a store. Silently, she hoped there would be no overnight accidents as little ones tended to have. Maybe she would get lucky and that part of toddlerhood would skip them. Just to be safe, she took each child into the bathroom before she layed them down. With little ones, you could never be too careful.

After the tots were back in dreamland, she called up Yasu knowing he would still be up. It was, after all, Yasu. She promised to explain when he arrived the next morning after requesting 2 daytime toddler outfits and 2 sets of toddler pajamas. She also added that a pack or two of little girls panties would be nice. At this request, Yasu just blushed and stammered but agreed. He was waiting for this explanation for sure. Once she promised him they would pay him back for everything and giving the sizes of 2t and 3t, she let him go. As she fell asleep, she prayed to herself that he could find underwear that small that was not padded for accidents. Somehow, she did not see either or them responding well to that!

Yasu arrived as promised promply at ten AM the following morning carrying two small pink shopping bags covered in teddy bears and flowers. The first bag contained the 3t clothes. There was a lavendar blouse with puffed sleeves, a light denim jumper, a package of assorted white lace-trimmed socks and a tiny pair of hello kitty tennis shoes. The pajamas were a two pack of footed thick ones. The first was white with pink hearts and the second was light pink with roses. Thinking ahead, he had added a small pair of denim shorts with ladybugs on them plus a matching shirt. The panties seemed acceptable enough. They were just general little girls colors.

The second bag was a bit more surprising. Apparently, he had not had much luck in the kids department and had to resort to some of the bigger clothes in the baby section. Mais daytime outfit was a light pink shirt and pants set. The shirt was fairly tame with a panda on the front. The pants, on the other hand, had footies. He had managed to find a white pair of soft tennis shoes with pink stars running across the side. The pajamas were the same style as Masakos with the only difference being the print: Mais were yellow with kittens and red with puppies. Her spare outfit was a white t shirt that sported a rose on the collar and a pair of denim shortalls. This would not have been so bad if they did not have snaps on the crotch. The store, unfortunately did not have panties so small. He had instead brought a pack of pull ups. They were pink with hearts and a unicorn. The hearts faded when wet. Ayako decided to see how well the larger underwear would fit the poor girl. She did now know how well Mai would react to this.


	5. Chapter 5

authors note: sorry for the delay, i do not have steady access to a computer at the moment. i will try to make this one longer to make up for it.

disclaimer: once again i do not own ghost hunt. darn reality.

As the children woke up, Masako kicked Mai on accident causing the smaller girl to whimper and alerting Ayako to her charges. She was not sure how they became her job, but accepted it fairly willingly as they DID look fairly adorable. After setting a chair in front of the sink, she supervised each youngster in brushing their teeth and faces. Gathering two towels, two pairs of panties and two outfits she layed them out on the counter. After giving Mai a sketch pad to draw in for a bit, she led Masako into the bathroom. There were a few awkward moments as far as getting her into the tub while keeping her privacy as much as was safely possible. She then left the door cracked so she could hear if the small girl needed anything or got into trouble. she had already placed the soap on the washrag and put the shampoo in her hair so the small thing did not have to stand in the tub and risk falling and splitting her head open. After ordering Masako to not move and to let her know when she was done, she joined Mai in her drawing.

They managed to fill three pages with flowers and various designs before the child in the bathroom called out. Ayako carefully lifted the girl from the tub and wrapped her in the towel. She allowed her to dry herself off as best as she could considering the towel was big enough to wrap around her little body atleast three times. There was no argument as she placed the clothes on the toilet seat for easier reach. She had to admit the jumper outfit really was adorable. She handed Masako her shoes as she dried the floor to get the bathroom ready for Mai to have her turn in the bath. Mentally, she prepared herself for a battle if those undergarments were too big.

As she lead the smaller girl into the bathroom, the child was blushing and insisting she did not NEED help. With a sigh, Ayako ignored the mini-tantrum and prepared the soap and shampoo the same as she had for Masako. This time, she felt the need to sit on the closed toilet lid to make sure Mai would not attempt to stand up and reach for things. With much squirming and arguing she finally convinced the petulant child to sit down and wash up. Half an hour later, she took a deep breath and prepared herself for quite a battle. Mai was used to being independent and apparently disliked relying on anyone else for basic needs. Growing up since junior high on her own, she had developed a taste for taking care of herself. Once the little child was finally clean, she wrapped her in the fuzzy towel and allowed her to atleast dry herself to preserve some dignity as Ayako gathered her strength for the next battle.

When the panties slipped down to the childs ankles, she knew she was going to end up with a headache. Cringing, she simply helped her slip on the shirt and let her sit on the towel while she gathered the dreaded disposable undergarment. Mai contentedly sat patiently as she waited, not knowing what was coming. As soon as the colorful pull up came into her view, she objected as loudly as she could. It took Ayako ten minutes to finally wrestle the damned thing onto the kicking and fussing child. Once that was accomplished, she leaned back and let the girl pout for a few minutes. After assuring her she could still used the bathroom and did not have to USE them she slipped the shortalls onto the cranky girl.

After brushing out each childs hair and making sure they looked presentable, she walked them down the stairs for breakfast.


	6. Chapter 6

as usual, I do not own Naru or Lin as much as i wish i could

also, reviews would be great. i swear i will update whenever i get the chance.

John met Ayako at the top of the stairs to take a toddler so they did not fall down the stairs. The children did not like it but did understand and Mai was a bit worn out from the tantrum bathtime and the subsequent dressing had caused. She leaned into John pouting and sniffling. As far as Ayako could guess, they had their memories but only had the maturity level of the age they were currently at. She made a mental note to not let the little dears out of her sight lest they get into typical toddler trouble. Also she made a note that with these children, Mai especially, she would need plenty of aspirin. She hoped it would not have to come with it, but dicipline might also be neccesary if the girl was going to act like the brat she was being this morning. Either way, a nap was surely going to be a neccesity.

Someone had found a child sized tea party table with matching pastel colored wood chairs that would suit their needs as they did not have booster seats. Masako took the green chair and Mai the yellow one. A plate of waffles and bacon, cut into child sized pieces was placed in front of each of them. Ayako could not help but cringe as she saw the syrup on them. She would let one of the guys clean the children up this time. They did seem to enjoy the meal especially when Bou-san brought them glases of strawberry milk to go with it. She would have to discuss the effects of sugar on youngsters with him later.

Sitting at the adult table, they discussed what was to be done with the kids until they could figure out how to fix this. Eventually, it was decided that someone would have to stay with them in base at all times. Lin only agreed to this if he did not have to watch them and they would not be allowed anywhere NEAR his equipment. They came to the conclusion that everyone but Naru and Lin would take turns babysitting. Naru because he refused to deal with "brats" and Lin because they were fairly sure he might end up killing the little dears. He was not very child friendly or patient.

After breakfast, John was given the task of cleaning the girls up as Ayako and Bou-san cleared the table and did dishes. He used a damp washcloth on each childs hands and face. They were then taken to a special corner in base with couch pillows to sit on and paper to draw on. Each girl found some colored pencils and settled in for the day. They were given orders if they wanted to leave their area, to ask first. Ayako pulled Mai to the side and let her know if she needed help getting her clothes down, come get her and she would help her out.

Checking the audio, they saw a mist over each girls bed as the adults vanished to be replaced by small toddlers. As the mist dissapated, they heard a young giggling. The camera in the hallway picked up a shadow about the size of a six or seven year old child sneaking away from the room shortly after. Yasu was immediately called to get a record on each family and child that had been in that house since it was built. If possible, even any houses that were on that property.

Things stayed calm all the way up to lunch. The kids had been asked repeatedly what they could remember to try to solve the mystery. They had both drawn a picture of the same little girl who looked roughly the same size as the shadow in the hall. Naru had a hunch she could be the first child to have met misfortune in that house. He needed, however, some research to confirm this. They fixed ham and cheese sandwiches with potato chips for lunch and the girls, once again, ate at their little table.

Once the plates were cleared and the grease from the chips cleaned from little hands Ayako and Bou-san escorted the children to their pillow corner with some small blankets set up near it for naps. Just to be careful, they put a pull up on Masako as well just for the nap. They promised it would be taken off as soon as they were up and it was just a precaution. As the girls slept, they continued bouncing theories off of each other until Yasu could get there with the much needed research. Ayako opted to nap as well knowing that she would need the energy to deal with Mai. That girl had some attitude and spirit. 


End file.
